Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola (21 September 1452-23 May 1498) was the de facto ruler of Florence from November 1494 to 23 May 1498, succeeding Piero de Medici and preceding Pier Soderini. Savonarola was a fanatical Catholic monk who expelled the House of Medici and established a popular republic, only to be excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI, his lieutenants killed by Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and stabbed in the neck by the latter in 1498. Biography Girolamo Savonarola was born in Ferrara, Duchy of Ferrara on 21 September 1452, and he travelled to Bologna in 1475, where he became a monk. He took the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and he became a lector at the Convent of San Marco in Florence in 1482. In 1488, Savonarola was staying in Forli and eavesdropped on the Orsi brothers as they gave an ultimatum to Caterina Sforza during the Siege of Forli. Later, he witnessed Checco Orsi stab Ezio Auditore da Firenze in the stomach with a poisoned blade. Taking the opportunity, Savonarola would claim the Apple of Eden as Ezio laid bleeding on the road. For the next several years, he became an itinerant preacher with a message of repentance, and he began to see himself as a prophet. Savonarola would begin to use the Apple of Eden for manipulating onlookers so that they obey his will. He claimed that a new Cyrus the Great would come over the mountains to begin a renewal of the Catholic Church, and his prophecy proved correct when King Charles VIII of France invaded Italy in 1494. Savonarola sided with the French king, and he ousted the House of Medici from power that same year. Savonarola and the French set up a popular republic in Florence, and Savonarola pledged to turn Florence into the new Jerusalem, a world center of Christianity, and a more rich and powerful city than it had ever been. In 1495, he was summoned to Rome by Pope Alexander VI for refusing to join the "Holy League" against France during the Italian War of 1494-98. and he instead preached under a ban. After manipulating nine influential people into firmly believing Savonarola's teachings with the Apple, he then started the Bonfire of the Vanities. The Bonfire's purpose was to burn all secular art and culture; he later denounced clerical corruption, despotic rule, and exploitation of the poor, leading to his excommunication in 1497. Savonarola later insisted that he was a miracle worker, but when rivals within clergy demanded that he undergo a trial by fire to prove it, he had the trial delayed until it rained, and then cancelled the trial. After Ezio assassinated the nine ringleaders of his regime, the people eventually discovered that he was a fraud. They stormed his residence and protested until Savonarola walked out and attempted to sway the crowd with the Apple of Eden. Fortunately, Ezio threw a knife at his hand and Savonarola was taken by the crowd and arrested. On 23 May 1498, Savonarola was nearly burned at the stake, though Ezio quickly put his hidden blade through Savonarola's neck, as no-one deserved to die in such agony. His body was then burned by the encroaching flames. Category:1452 births Category:1498 deaths Category:Florentine priests Category:Florentines Category:Priests Category:Catholics Category:Italians Category:Killed Category:Italian priests